


Lifeline (I Won't Let Go)

by sentencefragments



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Military, Angst, F/M, Fluff, happy end, i promise i wont kill him like last time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-08-19 00:59:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8182807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sentencefragments/pseuds/sentencefragments
Summary: Oliver has just returned from his deployment and he has a surprise for Felicity.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [everythingilove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/everythingilove/gifts).



> Well, I have no idea how the american military system works so I'm just going with whatever google could tell me. NSA, if you're watching, I promise I'm not trying to destabilize your forces from the inside, just a writer. Also, it's currently 4:42 am so excuse any spelling/grammar errors.

 

 

This is the hardest decision he’s had to make in his entire life. Leaving family, friends, loved ones, everything behind to fight for his country and protect those who can’t protect themselves. He’s very serious about this choice of career, knows in his heart that it’s the right one, but saying goodbye to life as he knew it is more difficult than expected.

Oliver never did very well in school. Barely managed to finish high school and only started college because it was what was expected of him. He hated it, failed his classes no matter how hard he tried, it was depressing. All school ever did for him was introduce him to her. The light of his life, the reason he gets up in the morning. Felicity.

They were high school sweethearts. She’s a little over three years younger than him but she’s always been the more mature one. She was a sophomore when she was assigned to tutor him for his senior classes. That’s how smart she is. Going to M.I.T. has been her dream since she was nine years old and in just about a year, she’s going to graduate with a double major in computer sciences and cyber security.

He’s so incredibly proud of her. She’s worked so hard to get here. And now he’s leaving.

Felicity understands why he has made this decision, she does, but as the date of deployment comes closer, she gets quieter around him. He caught her blinking away tears on multiple occasions. She pretends she’s fine, but he knows she’s not. She sees him go with a heavy heart.

Three years ago his parents died in a car accident. Oliver was forced to grow up from his party boy antics real quick. He had a little sister to take care of. He dropped out of college and went looking for a job. They moved into an apartment fit for just the two of them, close by Thea’s school. It worked for a while, but Oliver’s job as a barista wasn’t paying very well, and their parent’s life insurance money was running out.

Making the decision to join the marines was a hard one, but in his heart, Oliver knows it was the right one. This way, he can afford to send Thea off to college when she graduates in a few years, and start making a real career for himself instead of hopping from part-time job to part-time job. Everyone tells him it’s an honorable choice, but the pit in his stomach is currently preventing him from seeing it. It’s not honorable, it’s selfish. He’s relying on tax-payer money to provide for his family.

In a few hours, his plane leaves for Virginia, where he’ll be in boot camp for three months. After that he has ten days to say goodbye to his family and loved ones before he’s off to North Carolina to attend school of infantry and eventually, deployment for however long it may be.

He’s in his uniform, packing a few last thing before they leave for the Star City airport. He grabs a picture frame from his nightstand. The picture inside is old. It’s his parents and him and Thea when they were younger, carefree, happy. This past seems so far away but he hopes he can make his future bright like he thought it was back then. He hopes he can build a future with her. With Felicity. Someday.

Stuffing the picture frame into his duffel bag, he zips it up and sighs. He straightens his back when he hears a soft knock on the door.

“Are you almost ready to go?” A small voice asks. God, he’s gonna miss that voice.

Slowly, he turns around to look at her. Her brightly painted pink lips, her golden hair pinned away from her face, curls tumbling around her shoulders and the thick frames framing her gently blue eyes. She’s as beautiful as she’s ever been, but he can see the sadness on her face. She doesn’t want him to go. But he has to.

Oliver takes a deep breath. “I don’t know.” He whispers.

Felicity senses his hesitation and her hands falls away from the door handle. She quickly closes the distance between them and wraps her arms around him as tightly as she can. Oliver buries his face in the crook of her neck, the smell of her floral shampoo infiltrating his nose. He takes a deep breath, taking her in, running his hand up and down her back. They just hold each other for what feels like hours but is actually only a few minutes. Felicity’s fingers are in his hair, softly stroking.

When they pull apart, he can see her blinking away tears and he reaches up catch a drop with his thumb.

On their way to the airport, their fingers are linked, holding onto each other tightly, for however long they have left.

When It’s time to say goodbye, Felicity kisses him fiercely, passionately. Once, twice and then takes his face in her hands, looking him in the eye.

“I am so incredibly proud of you.” She whispers before pressing her lips to his forehead.

Their hands linger as he moves to go, arms outreached to catch one last touch. Her free hand is clasped over her mouth in an attempt to hold back the sobs and he has to force himself not to break and take her in his arms. He looks back at her one last time with tears in his eyes before swinging his duffel bag over his shoulder and following his fellow recruits onto the tarmac.

With a heavy heart he goes.

 

* * *

 

This is the easiest decision he’s had to make in his entire life. The celebration is in full swing. In front of the podium sits a sea of graduates in black robes and matching caps with tassels. With his hands in the pockets of his uniform, he stands, and waits in the back. He can’t see her, but he knows she’s there, somewhere in the crowd with her three burgundy honors cords and it’s making his heart beat fast. Faster than it ever has. He’s so incredibly proud of her.

With trembling hands he waits through the commencement and the speakers, the valedictorian and as the students get called forward to receive their university diplomas. Her last name starts with a letter at the end of the alphabet. It takes a while before it to be her turn.

“Felicity Meghan Smoak, summa cum laude.” The dean finally announces.

His heart skips a beat. He spots her curly blonde hair as she confidently walks up on stage, shakes the dean’s hand and receives her diploma. He can see her grin from ear to ear, a skip in her step. She did it, and amazingly so.

He can feel his hands starting to get clammy, his blood rushing through his veins when the dean announces he’d like to take a moment. The man in the red robe takes Felicity aside, guiding her to the center of the stage. It’s happening. This is their moment. Felicity has no idea what’s going on, she looks confused, but lets it happen.

“Felicity’s mother called me a few days ago…” The dean spoke into the microphone. Felicity’s brow furrowed in further confusion.

“You see, Felicity’s partner Oliver has been deployed for several months now and she wishes he could be here today.” A labored breath escapes from her lips as the tears well up in her eyes. He doesn’t need to see to know.

“Felicity, I know what that’s like, my wife and I had a son in Iraq, and I know for sure, that when you see Oliver again he’s gonna be so proud of you for finishing school with such tremendous grades. Congratulations.”

That’s his cue. While the dean shakes Felicity’s hand, and gives her her well-earned diploma, giving the small box in his pocket one last squeeze, he walks up the steps of the stage. He watches her wipe away a few tears with her sleeve before she smiles at the dean one last time, thanks him and exhales deeply. She’s ready to walk off stage, her eyes glued to the ground.

She only makes it a few steps before she spots him. She freezes. Shock overtakes her for a moment and then she lets out a strangled sob and falls to her knees, hand clasped over her mouth.

Taking a deep breath, Oliver takes a step towards her, vaguely aware of the crowd cheering and clapping, his sole focus on her. Felicity quickly gets back up on her feet and launches herself into his arms. He gets the breath knocked out of him by the sheer force she uses to fling herself at him. He’s crying, she’s crying, and he just holds her. Her hair smells the same as he remember, her embrace just as warm and comforting. He’s not sure how long they stand there, but he doesn’t really care.

He’s home.

After a moment, he carefully puts her back on her feet so he can look at her. Her face is streaked with tears but she’s smiling. He’s never seen her this happy.

“You’re back.” She chokes out, reaching for his face, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

“Yeah. I am.” He nods and tucks her hair behind her ears before he cups her cheeks and closes the distance between their lips. He kisses her passionately and the crowd goes wild. Pushing herself up on her toes she throws her arms around him as their lips move together in perfect harmony.

It feels as if they’re standing there, kissing, for a lifetime. He’s back home and she’s in his arms again and Oliver doesn’t want to move for anything. Her lips are on his and everything is perfect. Well, almost. There’s one more thing he has to do. In reality, the exchange couldn’t have lasted longer than a minute or so. Oliver slowly lets go of her waist, putting her back on her own feet. Never breaking eye contact, he reaches up to cup her cheeks and peck her lips one last time before he takes a step backwards. He sees the little crinkle appear between Felicity’s eyebrows, her eyes narrowing just the slightest bit. He holds on tight to her left hand as he lowers himself onto one knee.

She gets it now. Her eyes go wide and her lips part as if on their own volition.

Instinctively, she yanks her hand out of his hold, fingers shaking as they join her other hand covering her mouth. Oliver doesn’t miss the whispered ‘oh my god’ she squeaks out.

Reaching into the pocket of his uniform, he pulls out the velvet ring box he’s been nervously playing with all day. A tear slips out of the corner of Felicity’s eye. She quickly wipes it away.

“Felicity Smoak.” He starts, clearing his throat when he realizes how his nerves have affected his vocal chords.

“You have always been by my side. Even with more than a thousand miles between us you were there. Would you do me the incredible honor of letting me be by yours for the rest of our lives? Will you make me the happiest man on the face of the earth?”

For a moment he tears his gaze away from hers to look at the ring box as he opens it. Nestled inside the satin is a beautifully simple gold band with a pear shaped diamond. Oliver saved up for months so he could afford it. She’s worth it. Every penny.

“Felicity Smoak…” He starts, holding the ring a little higher and looking into her teary eyes. “Will you marry me?”

She starts nodding furiously before he’s even finished his question, hands dropping away from her face to clasp over her heart. The tears flow freely across her cheeks as she mumbles a soft “yes.”

And then she raises her voice. “Yes.” She says proudly. “Yes! YES! YES! YES!” She exclaims, the tears traded in for the biggest smile he’s ever seen on her face. The grin on his own face matches hers. Their audience is going wild.

Carefully, Oliver takes the ring and then her left hand, smoothly sliding the piece of jewelry into place on her ring finger. It’s like it was meant to be there, it looks so perfect on her.

She’s in his arm again a second later, and he couldn’t be happier.

Best decision he ever made.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is all jo's fault. I hope you're happy.

**Starling City, November 22 8:35AM**

Felicity was nervous, fidgeting with her engagement ring while she got ready for the day. She’d been on edge all week, waiting for him to call and share in her joy. In just a month, he’d be home for the holidays and she would finally get  to marry the man of her dreams. Her dress was ready and fitted, the cake was ordered and the final arrangements were being taken care of. She couldn’t wait. She’d always dreamed of a winter wedding. Any day now, her surprise would arrive at Oliver’s base camp and he would know about the exciting secret she’d been keeping from him. She’d told him about the little game she’d made up, making up a tiny lie so he wouldn’t be too caught off guard by the package.

“An engagement game?” He’d asked over the phone when she’d called him a couple days ago.

“Yeah. I thought it’d be fun. Take your mind off of things.” She said, smiling to herself as she curled up on his side of the bed, still smelling his cologne on the pillow.

“I mailed it last week so it should be there soon.”

Oliver laughed but agreed. “Alright, I’ll play.” He chuckled. “Now go get some sleep.  You have a big day tomorrow.”

He was referring to a job interview at a up-and-coming tech company. Felicity was really looking forward to it, but she had another appointment that day that he hadn’t known about that had her really nervous. And excited. Her interview that day went well, and so did her appointment. Now that she knew her elation was justified, she couldn’t be happier and immediately wanted to tell Oliver. So, she came up with her plan and sent it out to Afghanistan the same day.

With a sigh, she put on her favorite necklace –one that Oliver gave her on their first anniversary- and headed to the kitchen to pour herself a nice hot cup of tea. She hoped Oliver would call soon. She’d given him very specific instructions, so it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out. She just really wanted to see his face when he found out.

 

**Kandahar, November 22  9:14PM**

Oliver pressed the record button on his phone camera.

“Okay so, Felicity sent me this package, and she told me to record myself, opening it so that she could see my face. So, here we go. Let me just, find a good spot for this camera… Alright.”

He propped up his phone against a dirty coffee mug, hands steady to keep it balanced. When he was satisfied with the angle, he smiled into the camera.

“I’ve got the package right here.” He lifted up the big white box so it came into view a little better. “So let’s open it and play this game she made up. She told me it’s a game to see how much I know about us as a couple, but jokes on her, because I know everything.”

He pulled the sparkly decorated box out of the ugly fed-ex carton.  He smiled a little, Felicity had put so much thought into this. She cared so much. And it was one of the many reasons he loved her so much. He missed her so badly. But the thought of watching her walk down the aisle to marry him in just a month made his heart ache a tiny bit less.

“Let’s see what the fuss is all about. She was really excited about it, so I’m sure it’s going to be amazing.” He mumbled as he loosened the bow to read the card she’d attached to it.

“Alright, It’s called the wedding engagement game.” He  read out loud. “Stop and read before opening.” He chuckled, turning over the card to show it to the camera. Felicity had doodled all over the card, little hearts and wedding rings and bow ties. It was adorable.

Clearing his throat, Oliver continued to read aloud. “This is a game to see how much you know about us. The first game is scrabble. Good luck. Remember, not to look under the blue paper until after completing game one. Hope you do well.”

He smirked, looking straight into the camera like on the office. “Step one: record yourself, for the memories.”

“Step two: Open the box.” Done.

“Step three: Use the lid of the box and the word pieces to complete the puzzle.” Seemed easy enough. He reached for the lid and flipped it over so he could see the handwritten crossword puzzle Felicity had made for him.

“Oooh this is gonna suck if I can’t get this right.” He laughed, still in good spirits.

He opened the little plastic bag and spread out the wooden scrabble pieces out on the table so he could get a good look at them.

“Alright, the first one is: We got blank in July. That’s pretty easy.” He stated.

As he took the wooden pieces, he said his answer out loud. “We got engaged in July.”

“Number two: We will get blank in December.”

“We will get married in December.” He said with a huge grin on his face.

“And the last one is: And our blank is in May.”

He frowned, trying to think of anything significant happening for them in May. It took him a minute to figure it out. Together with the letter he already had on the board, and the pieces that he was left with, it hit him. He looked into the camera with a hopeful smile and started putting the wooden squares in order. His heart was racing.

“Wow.” He whispered to himself, running a hand through his hair.

“Our due date is in May.” He said proudly.

He turned to the box, lifting the blue paper she’d warned him about and taking out the items inside, one of which, was a positive pregnancy test. He took an unsteady breath and covered his mouth with his hand as he stared at the little plus sign on the plastic stick. He couldn’t believe it. A baby. He was starting to tear up, hand clasped over his mouth in awe. He swallowed hard, a wave of emotions washing over him all at once.  He wiped away the tear that had escaped down his cheek and turned to the camera.

“Felicity I’m going to call you right now.”

 

**Starling City, November 22 8:49AM**

Felicity’s phone rang just as she was about to take another bite of her bagel and her breath got stuck in her throat. Hands trembling, she reached for the device on her desk, taking a deep breath before she accepted the call from her fiance.

“Oliver?” She said, trying to act cool.

“Felicity.” He sighed. She loved the way he said her name, like it was the most important word in the entire English language.

“We’re gonna have a baby.” He stated and she couldn’t help but smile, he sounded so wistful.

She started nodding, even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “Yeah, we are. Are you excited?”

“Beyond excited. I’m ecstatic. Felicity, I love you so much, and this baby… wow!” He was in awe.

Felicity smiled, she knew exactly what his face looked like in that moment, she didn’t even need the camera footage.

Oliver pulled himself together. “I know it’s a little sooner than we planned, but it doesn’t even seem to matter.”

“I love you too, Oliver, you’re my entire world. You’re going to be an amazing father to our child.”

“I’m gonna be a dad.” He whispered, as if realization suddenly hit him. “I wish I could kiss you right now.”

Felicity smiled and chuckled, eyes tearing up. “Soon. Just four more weeks.” She murmured.

She could hear his audible sigh over the crappy cell connection. “I love you so much honey. We’re gonna start a family together.” He said proudly.

“Yeah. Yeah, we are.” Felicity said, protective hand rubbing across her stomach. “I love you, Oliver.”


End file.
